SCRIPTURE

A collection of

sacred writings

• All that God has taught us is called Revelation

• Revelation is contained in scripture and tradition

• The Bible is a collection of writings held sacred by Christians

• “bible” comes from the Greek word for “book”

• There are 73 books in the Bible

• The Bible is separated into two main divisions: The Old Testament and the New Testament

- The Old Testament = Hebrew Scriptures

- Contains 46 books

- Completed about 100 years before the birth

of Jesus

• The New Testament = Christian Scriptures

- Contains 27 books

- Completed about 100 years after Jesus’

Resurrection

• Christians believe that the Bible is the Word of God

• This means that through the Holy Spirit, God inspired the authors who then told and wrote down the stories (divine inspiration)

• Because of divine inspiration,

God is the primary author

of the Bible

• The writings in the bible are meant to reveal the truth about God and His relationship to His creation

• The authors of the OT were not concerned with historic or scientific facts

• Each story in the OT contains a religious truth

• Along with scripture, we learn about God through tradition

• Tradition refers to beliefs and practices that have been passed down through the ages

Reading the Bible:

Types of books in the Old Testament and New Testament:

• Old Testament:

1. - The Torah or Pentateuch contains the first 5 books in the OT

- Torah means “law”; these books contain the Law of Moses

2. The Historical Books – there are 16 Historical Books

3. The Wisdom Books – 7

4. The Prophetic Books - 18

• Christians study the Old Testament because the history of the Jewish people is our history too.

• OT history is the history of Jesus and the generations of his family

• The OT help us to understand Jesus’ faith, culture and upbringing better

• The New Testament tells about the life and mission of Jesus and the early Church.

• In the New Testament, there are four types of books:

1. Gospels – 4

2. Acts of the Apostles – 1

3. Epistles (Letters) – 21

4. Revelation (Apocalypse) - 1